Paying back housing benefits overpayment

_postman

Hello

My local council is claiming that between Jan 07 and Aug 07 I was overpaid housing benefits to the tune of more than £2500 and they are now seeking to reclaim it.

I would like to ask if the error in making the overpayment was the council's, do they have the right to claim it back/do I need to pay it back?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks.

Steve

robwend

even when tax credits mess up they still demand it back. housing will be no exception to the rule. they will still seek out the overpayments

bravobeastie

Unfortunately we had the same thing although this is going back about 3 years...and we're still paying them back.

Its disgusting that they made the mistake, i mean, what are they paid for? How are people supposed to know what they are claiming is the right amount or not???

Conor_3

The problem is that a lot of the time, it's the fault of the claimant for not notifying them of a change of circumstances or giving them the correct information.

mspig

We had the same problem last year when i filled in the housing benefit/council benefit forms correctly and they said i was intitled to full payment for both, then 4 months later i had a later saying that i had been overpaid and was only entitled to 69p on one and £5.00 on the other. I challenged them and showed them evidence i had sent all the right info and they agreed and said it had been a clerical error and that i didn't have to pay any of it back.

robwend

god you got lucky, tax credits cocked up and i had to pay back 2000. if only they took on board there mistakes.

bravobeastie

robwend wrote: »

god you got lucky, tax credits cocked up and i had to pay back 2000. if only they took on board there mistakes.

Oh we got stung with that one too. £800 odd for me and £800 odd for hubby.

Paid back at £60 a month EACH, this month will be our last payment.

Problem is, our circumstances were exactly the same as they were before. Nothing had changed from the time of application for both WTC and CTC and Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. This is what puzzled and annoyed us